Isaiah 46

Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden. The images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary. They stoop and bow down together; unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go off into captivity.....They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Though one cries out to it, it does not answer; it cannot save him from his troubles. Isaiah 46:1-2,7

I've been fascinated by Isaiah 46 as of recent days. I'm constantly surrounded by the question, "What images of God are you carrying about?" I've realized time and time again how often we as Christ-followers carrying around images of God that are so far from who He really is. I personally tend to have this view of God as this divine lawyer, looking for a loophole to nail me. I find my prayers are so specific not because I'm praying by faith but because I fear that if I'm not specific then God is going to hand down this awful answer. I figure if I don't clearly outline exactly what I was asking for then I won't get it. My past has ingrained that in me. But that is in no way who God really is. He is not sitting on his throne, scheming up ways to find loopholes in my prayers so that He can make me miserable.

We carry around images of God, too, as though he's Mr. Rogers. As pastor Isaac Anderson put it, "He just wants to be your neighbor." Or may be there is the view of God as a divine score keeper. He's keeping track of all that you say and do. You get points added and deducted according to your conduct and thoughts. Or may be we see God as this mildly interested human-like god who is quite content with the mediocre lives of men. All of these images combined add up to a god, who at the very heart of it all, cannot save us. And never will. Why? Because they are not the true image of God, the Holy One of Israel. Like the people in Isaiah 46, they were crafting these idols of silver and gold. They were worshipping them. Singing to them. Decorating them. And what did the idols do in return? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. See, that's the problem with idols and false images in our lives. They can't save us. They can't help us. They don't hear us when we cry out. They don't respond when our hearts are hurting.

Maybe that's why God doesn't hear us sometimes. We pray and pray and pray to God, hoping he'll step in, but all along we've been harboring unbelief. We've been harboring false images of him, just beneath the surface.

The idols in our lives taunt us. They keep us captive. They overshadow the truth because we have found that we are so comfortable with our idols and false images of God that we don't even realize that is what has happened.

So that's the question: What images of God have you been carrying around that you need to deconstruct? What false images of God have you been carrying about? It's burdensome isn't it? It's burdensome to carry around false images and perceptions of God. But the Holy One also said, "Come to me and I will give you rest....my burden is light." Holding onto and believing the true image of God is the only yoke you will carry on your shoulders that will not keep you captive. Learn from Israel in Isaiah 46. Carrying around false images and idols and crying out to them is no way to live.